Blankenthoughts

Just a reminder to all of you in the Southfield/Ann Arbor/Detroit area...I will be presenting the Silverlight DevCares event on Wednesday, August 29.

http://www.devcares.com to sign up.

See ya there.

Labels: devcares, microsoft, Silverlight

I just got an inside tip that Verio is offering free MS web hosting through 2010. So, if you've been meaning to get around to building the next killer app, here's your chance to do it for free.

They even support Silverlight, so if you've been meaning to try it out, GET TO IT!
I believe they are Windows Server 2003, with IIS 6. You don't even need a credit card.

All you have to do is call Verio’s 800-932-7483 to receive your free website. This offer is unfortunately not available online. Please pass it along.

Labels: microsoft, Silverlight, web hosting

This blog post was inspired by Seth Godin. If you haven't got him in your subscriptions, get him there. He's a great read.

Anyways, he discovered a new service called BookSwim. They even tout themselves as the Netflix of books. At first glance, I was excited. How great would that be? I could make a list of books I want to read, and they would send them to me. All for just $19.99 a month. Think of the reading I could do!

But wait...I already do this. I have an online queue that I can manage. In fact, I can actually get several books at one time. In addition, I can get movies, CDs, magazines, newspapers, you name it. The best part? It's free. (It's called a library, if you haven't figured it out.)

BookSwim talks about how shipping to your home is free, and that the return shipping is also free, but let's take a look at this for a moment. The only service they are providing me is home delivery. Getting the books is already free. So that "free" shipping isn't so free. I can go get those books down the street (for free) and save myself $20 a month.

Sure, you could make the same argument for Netflix and movies, but movies aren't nearly as up to date at the library, nor are they available in the quantities that the masses demand. But if you're looking for a movie that's been on DVD for over a year, there's no reason you shouldn't try your local library first. Save your Netflix membership for the movies you just couldn't get elsewhere.

As Seth points out, Netflix works because there's a demand for movies in that capacity. Being "the Netflix" of some other industry just isn't gonna work. Come up with a delivery system that meets your needs.

Getting started at this new job has been exciting, but very busy. I also seem to be leaving a trail of destruction. In the first ten days:

I spent my first three days in Brainerd, MN, at the Madden's resort. There, I got an opportunity to meet the rest of my team from the entire Central Region. As soon as I arrived, so did 70 MPH winds, rain, and hail. Trees were taken down all over the state. Power was out for a little while.



After leaving my hail damage on nearly every car at the place, I headed back to Columbus. Thankfully, there's nothing I can do to bring bad weather to my home town. We've had 1 inch of rain since March, it seems.

On Saturday, I headed up to Detroit, passing through Findlay, OH. Detroit was buried under several inches of rain during my visit, and the clouds were lower than my hotel room. Seriously. On my way home, I had to pass back through Findlay, OH to get to Columbus easily. Apparently, they got some of the rain that was in Detroit. So much so, in fact, that the highway exit I needed was closed. That closure turned my 3 hour drive home into a 6 hour drive home. Thank God for GPS.



On a more serious note, however, take the time to look out for those in need. A dollar or two can still go quite a long way. Here's the link for the United Way in Hancock County, where Findlay is located. Please consider giving a few dollars to help these people in need.

I always get accused of not announcing the big things in my life (and I generally don't, because I don't want to come across as more arrogant), and so I've decided to let everyone know about this one.

I just recently spent a few days in Redmond, WA interviewing with a small software company located there (Microsoft). They have a position here in Columbus called "Developer Evangelist," and I have been interested in the job since I first heard about it. In short, the job requires me to learn about the new software development technologies that Microsoft has created (well before the general community has access to them), and then announce/demonstrate/teach those technologies to the developer communities in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

There will certainly be some travel involved with this position, getting around those 4 states, and a great deal of public speaking (something I enjoy, but have much more to learn about). This is a major deviation from what my career has been thus far, which has primarily focused on building software for clients, with budgets, timelines, and all of the other hurdles that generally stress me out.

I am really looking forward to this opportunity, and I think that this is the type of position that will offer me learning experiences on a daily basis. It's a great honor to have even been considered for this position by Microsoft, let alone awarded the job. My first day will be August 13.

This position was previously held by Drew Robbins, who has been an absolutely amazing asset to me and my team at Quick Solutions. He has left behind some enormous shoes to be filled, and I only hope I can succeed where his legacy left off. He has moved on to Redmond, where he will be the Technical Evangelist for the IIS7 team. I'm sure the world is in for a shakeup once he starts doing his magic.

So, in my travels though the "Heartland District," I hope I will have an opportunity to see many of you, if only for a beer.

Labels: developer evangelist, heartland district, microsoft